Keeping Secrets
by Kate Hodges
Summary: Jenny Shepherd has a secret, one she has kept quiet for over 9 years. A new case for Gibbs team brings this secret out into the open and the whole team are in for a few surprises.
1. Prologue

**- Prologue -**

There are some things in life that are better off kept hidden, not shared with your friends, family or anyone else you are connected to. These things are often secrets that you end up keeping for years on end, just because you are uncomfortable with telling the truth from the very beginning.

That's what happened to me. Someone once told me, the best way to keep a secret is to tell no one, second best is to tell one other person if you must, but there is no third best. Maybe I should have took those words to heart more, and actually listened to them, or maybe I should have just told him everything from the very beginning and prevented all of this from happening.

I guess I'll never know if I made the right decision 9 years ago, but either way I can't stop what's happening now and the truth will come out.


	2. The Case

**- Chapter 1 -**

**The Case**

I am sat at my desk reading through and signing off on case files when I am disturbed by my phone ringing insistently on the desk beside me. I reluctantly pick it up and answer it, the quickest way to deal with the intrusion.

"Director Shepherd," the voice on the other end of the line says, "I've got a new case that I would like you to assign to one of your teams, I've just received a call from a very distraught teacher from a local middle school. She says that the father of one of her pupils came to the school to collect his son, but both the father and son we're shot dead as they left the school to go to his car."

"What connection has this got to NCIS sir, wouldn't it fall under FBI jurisdiction?"

"Normally yes, but the man was a marine and the school is well known as a school for the children of local navy officers," SecNav explains, "We want this matter handled as quickly and carefully as possible to avoid causing a mass panic, and at this point we are unclear of the full circumstances of the murder."

"Very well sir, I'll get one of my best teams on it immediately."

"Thank you Jenny, I'll forward all of the case details through to your sectary as soon as possible."

The conversation draws to a close and I put the phone back in its cradle, mentally deciding who to send on this case. The decision comes to me as one of my best agents comes storming into my office, Cynthia apologizing profusely for not being able to stop him just barging in.

I reassure her not to worry; no one can stop Special Agent Gibbs when he's in a mood, not even me.

"Jethro," I greet as soon as Cynthia leaves, shutting the door behind her, "What can I do for you?"

"I just got a message from the SecNav that you've got a new case for me and my team, any reason why you couldn't tell me this yourself?"

"I didn't know he had already decided who he wants on this case, I was only told about it a few minutes ago myself," I state shaking my head in silent thought.

Why would SecNav do something like that? What is he hoping to prove? I have to push the thoughts aside for now and concentrate on the matter at hand.

"Well, do you want me on this case or not?" Jethro asks getting impatient.

I suck in a calming breath before agreeing to let him handle the case and informing him of the information I've received and where to obtain the relevant files. He steps out of my office in a calmer manner than he entered and I listen as he makes his way down to the bullpen, calling out to his team that they've got a new case.

I return to my seat and ponder over my previous thoughts, why would the SecNav go behind my back and inform Jethro about the case without my knowledge?

* * *

To be continued...

_**Author Note:** Does anyone know the name of the _SecNav_? I'm looking at season 3 to 4 for this story, so around that timeline if there's been more than one. Thanks. More to come in the near future._


	3. Crime Scene

**- Chapter 2 -**

**Crime Scene**

Gibbs and his team arrive at the school within about 15 minutes of leaving NCIS headquarters. They make their way directly to the place the bodies of the marine and his son are laying on the grass in front of the school.

"Right," Gibbs barks to his team, "DiNozzo, bag and tag, David, photographs and McGee sketches."

Ducky walks up behind his long time friend and places his hand on Gibbs shoulder before looking at the body for identification. Mr Palmer walking up behind them a few minutes later struggling under the weight of the equipment he's carrying.

"What have we got Duck," Gibbs asks.

"Well, it looks like this young gentleman, took a bullet to the left shoulder and a second bullet just a few inches short of the heart, almost the exact same spots as his son. From their liver temperatures, I can put their time of death at 12:15 this afternoon, which collaborates with the witness reports."

"Thanks Duck," Gibbs says before walking over to talk to one of the witnesses.

He introduces himself to the teacher who made the call, before questioning her on what she saw.

"Mr Thompson came in to collect his son Joseph from school for a doctor's appointment. We normally take a dislike to parents taking their children to appointments during school hours, but we made an exception this time, because of Mr Thompson's high ranking position within the school governors, and his job in the military. They left my office and walked across the grass to Mr Thompson's car, the blue one parked over there," Miss Scarlett supplies pointing out the car she's talking about, "next thing I hear four gun shots and look out my office window to see both Mr Thompson and Joseph lying on the grass the way they are now."

"Do you know if any threats had been made against Mr Thompson or his son, or anything else that may indicate a reason for someone wanting to kill them?"

"Not as far as I'm aware, Mr Thompson works in the marines, as a sniper trainer, he's an outstanding person and has always had strong connections with this school, allot of his friends and colleagues children also come here thanks to his recommendations and Joseph is one of the best behaved pupils we have ever had here. Not a bad mark against him, and he's always one of the first to offer his help. I can't imagine why anyone would ever want to hurt either of them," Miss Scarlett replies struggling to hide her tears.

Gibbs's attention is momentarily distracted when a young red headed girl passes nearby, looking very similar to his late daughter Kelly. The glistening of red hair and sparkling blue-green eyes grabs his attention and it's only when Miss Scarlett begins to talk some more that he turns his attention back to the case.

"This is the first time anything like this has ever happened here, we pride ourselves on being a safe haven for kids whose parents work in the military or armed forces. Most of the kids here are the sons and daughters of police officers, marines, FBI agents or from other similar backgrounds, safety is one of our biggest concerns and with this, well I don't know what I can do to assure everyone that this isn't going to happen to them and their kids. Most of the children who have been in today have been sent home early, there are only a few whose parents or other relative guardians haven't been able to collect them yet."

"Miss Scarlett, we will do everything we can to find out who's responsible for murdering Mr Thompson and his son, and to ensure that the perpetrator gets locked up for a very long time. We appreciate your help in this matter and you seem to be doing an excellent job of keeping everybody calm. Can you tell me if any of the children may have been witness to this horrible crime?"

"As far as I'm aware, there are only the offices on this side of the building with windows that looks out over this field. So it's unlikely that any of the children will have seen anything, although you may wish to speak with a young girl known as Isabella Sheppard, she was a close friend of Joseph and his father so may be able to tell you more."

Gibbs silently ignored the memories the name bought to him, it's just a coincidence right, he tells himself. "Would this Isabella still be on site, or have you got the contact details of her family," Gibbs asks, pausing at the name to remember it.

"She's just over there," points out Miss Scarlett, pointing to the red-headed girl that Gibbs noticed earlier.

"Thank you," Gibbs thanks the teacher before walking over in the direction of the young girl who had been pointed out to him.

The girl who looked to be about 8 or 9 had shiny, red hair that fell down her back in long waves, and bright blue-green eyes that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. She's wearing a cream T-shirt and blue jeans, with an emerald green cardigan tied tightly around her petite waist.

"Excuse me," Gibbs says approaching the girl carefully so as not to frighten her, "My name is Special Agent Gibbs, NCIS," he states holding out his badge for the girl to see, "Your teacher over there said you we're good friends with Joseph and his father Mr Thompson."

"That's right," the girl says wiping the tears from her eyes, "are they, they dead?" she asks through her tears.

"I'm afraid so," Gibbs says in a soothing tone that he reserves for talking to children who have been witness to horrible crimes such as this, "can you tell me anything about them?"

"Jose hangs around with me and my friends, Sam, Tammy, Ashley and Matt at school. He's in most of my classes, and sometimes we would all go to each other's houses of a night to work on our homework together or just have fun. His dad is really nice, he even taught me and Joseph how to shoot a moving target the once. I would often stay round his of a night if Mom's working late or out of town for a few days."

"Can you think of anyone who may want to hurt them?"

"No," Isabella answers before covering her mouth with her hand, "Wait," she say's as Gibbs attempts to stand up to walk back over to his team, "I remember being at his house last week, when I heard his dad having an argument with someone on the door. Jose told me it was someone his dad worked with, Sergeant Adam's I think he said. It was something to do with work."

"Thank you Isabella, you've been very helpful" Gibbs says to her, still unable to shake the feeling that she seems somehow familiar.

"It's Izzy," she says to his retreating form, before going back to scribbling in her notepad, like she was before Gibbs approached her waiting for someone to arrive to collect her.

Gibbs returns to his team, to see what they had all found. With nothing conclusive to go on and all the evidence from the crime scene collected, they load everything into the truck and head back to the office to process it all and write up their reports.

To be continued...

* * *

_Authors Notes: The scene has been set and this story is now underway, I've got a plot in mind but am still open to ideas. It may be a while before you see anymore chapters, but by making them shortish, I'm hoping it will encourage me to get them out faster. I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has reviewed and/or favourited this story so far, you are the inspiration that keeps me writing. Remember reviews show me that your still interested in the way this story is progressing, and in turn will encourage me to write more. I have abandoned many stories due to lack of interest, so don't let this be one of them. _


	4. Abby's Lab & Autopsy

**- Chapter 3 -**

**Abby's Lab & Autopsy**

Upon their arrival back at NCIS Headquarters, Gibbs and his team head straight down to Abby's lab to hand over the evidence they have collected to be processed. "Hey Abb's" Gibbs greats his favorite scientist thrusting a caf-pow under her nose.

"Gibbs," Abby says in her usual enthusiastic way, before leaping into his arms to give him a hug.

Abby is like a daughter to him and she is one of the only people who can get away with a lot of the things she does. She is around the same age Kelly would be if she was still alive and Gibbs is sure the two of them would have gotten along really well.

Gibbs hand's over the evidence that has been collected from the crime scene before explaining the finer details of the case to Abby, and what she's looking for. He then leaves the lab leaving her to get on with it, knowing she'll call him if and when she finds something.

Abby gets to work straight away, watching Gibbs leave the lab, probably on his way down to autopsy to talk to Ducky.

"What have you got Duck?" Gibbs says on walking into the autopsy lab announcing his presence.

"Good afternoon Jethro, our friend here seems to have been murdered, but you already knew that. The cause of death is definitely the gun shots, but he seems to have some underlying bruising indicating he has been in a fight recently, probably within the past few days. His young son on the other hand only shows signs of the gunshot wounds, which are clean straight through. From the location of the wounds I can conclude that they we're shot with a sniper rifle from somewhere on the other side of the street, although Abby should be able to give you more information on that once she has finished her experiments on the bullets. That's all I've got for you though I'm afraid."

"Thanks Duck, one of the witnesses I spoke to at the school said something about him getting into an argument with someone he works with so I'll look into that deeper. If you find anything else let me know."

"Will do," Ducky says to Gibbs retreating back.

Gibbs heads back to the bull pen to collaborate with his team. "Whatcha got DiNozzo," he demands on stepping out of the elevator.

"Boss," Tony greets, "It looks like Sergeant Thompson was in a fight with his colleague Lieutenant Adams about a week ago. Thompson was teaching Adams on how to correctly use a sniper rifle and hit a moving target. Adams is a new member of the unit, recently transferred in from a private outpost down in New Jersey. From what we can gather he got along well with the team but had a few problems with authority and taking orders. He liked to think he didn't need to be told what to do. Thompson himself was a real family man, looked out for his son and gave him the best in everything, even letting him have his friends stay over as often as he wanted to. His wife died in childbirth, so he raised his son himself, and they lived in a small 2 bed roomed house just on the outskirts of the city. The boy had no problems at school, has never been in any sort of serious trouble and is generally your typical 10 year old."

"Ziva, McGee, anything to add to that?"

"Just that Adams has been seen recently spending time with a Japanese woman who is on the FBI watch list, it's probably not related but it may be worth having a word with her."

"Right, DiNozzo, David, you go interview the Japanese woman, McGee your with me, I think it's time we had a chat with Lieutenant Adams."

* * *

To be Continued...


	5. Director's Office

**_Authors Notes: _**_Thanks to everyone who has reveiwed so far, and anyone who has added this story to their alerts. I also wanted to say a thank you to Pixie-Galaxy-Dust and badprobiemcgee for the SecNav's name, even if I did get two completely different ones. I decided to go with the first one I got, afterall it's just a name, I could have called him Bumblestick for all the difference it makes. Anyway, here's the next chapter. There's at least another 3 chapters drafted, but after that I may hit a bit of a dead end, so i'm gonna at least try and get a start on the next chapter before I post anymore of this. Read and enjoy, and remember reveiws are love._

* * *

**- Chapter 4 -**

**Directors Office**

While Gibbs and his team were out investigating the case, I got straight back on the phone to the SecNav to find out what he's up to contacting Gibbs behind my back.

"Jenny listen to me," says the SecNav, "I only got in touch with Gibbs myself because I know he is the best Agent for this case. I may not always like his methods, but he knows what he's doing, and with a case like this we need someone who's experienced in these situations. I was afraid that when you read the full details of the case, you would let your personal connections override your better judgment, and I wasn't about to let that happen. I'm trying to protect everyone's involvement here."

"And what's he going to think if he happens to run into Izzy, hey, how am I going to explain that one. Oh yeah, I can just imagine that, what we're you thinking?"

"I take it you've yet to tell him that little secret then? I'm surprised at you Jenny, I thought you'd have said something before now; he has got a right to know after all. She is his daughter, or is there something else you're not telling me? What else are you hiding?"

"Nothing Edward, look I'm just worried ok, I didn't think anything like this would happen and if Jethro's got to find out about this I would prefer it to be under different circumstances."

"I can understand that, but maybe it's time you think about telling him the truth. I can only cover for you so much. Isabella is an amazing little girl and I love spending time with her, but don't you think she needs to know who her real father is?"

I let out a sigh in contemplation, "I know your right, but this is so hard. She's eight now, nearly nine and has just lost one of her best friends to a mad man murderer, do you really think she needs anymore disruption in her life right now?"

"I know all that Jenny and I can understand where you're coming from, but I still stand by my word; she needs to know her father. Anyway I've got to get back to work, this paperwork isn't going to complete itself, and I'm sure you've got lots to do too. Stop worrying about the what if's and let things play out as they should, if you need to talk anytime you know where to find me."

"Thank you Edward," I say before ending the call.

I lean back in my chair inhaling a deep breath of air to calm my nerves and focus my thoughts, I then return to my normal position to get on with the piles of paperwork that are littering my desk.

To be continued...


	6. Lieutenant Adams

_**Author Note: **Just thought I better let you all know, I'm not gonna have internet access for over a month cause I'm going out of town so I'm posting this today/tonight whatever time it is wherever you reside. The next two chapters are up on my new NCIS fan fiction website which can be found at www (dot) coffeedesigns (dot) net / ncis. Full link is in my profile. For anymore you'll have to wait till i've written them, and till I've got internet access again. Unless I can find an internet connection from somewhere. Hopefully this chapter will tide you over until then. Thanks for all the reveiws and alerts, I didn't think this would gain so much interest._

_This chapter as not been betaed or properly checked over so will have errors, I'll correct them when I get back.  
_

* * *

**- Chapter 5 -**

**Lieutenant Adams**

Gibbs and McGee, pull up in the blue sedan outside of a house with white picket fencing in a desirable neighborhood. They pull in and both get out of the car. Gibbs leads the way down the path to the front door where he knocks loudly on the door. They wait silently for someone to answer them.

A man who looks to be round about 20 years old opens the door in boxers and a navy blue t-shirt. "How can I help you," he greets the Agents standing outside his front door.

"Are you Lieutenant Adams," Gibbs demands calmly.

"Who wants' to know?" the man asks

Gibbs and McGee retrieve their badges and show them to man, "Special Agent Gibbs, and Special Agent McGee, NCIS," Gibbs introduces them.

"NCIS, what's happened? Am I meant to have done something wrong?"

"You tell us," Gibbs says, "We are investigating the murder of one of your colleagues, Sergeant Thompson and wondered if we could have a word."

"Now?" the man asks dumbly.

"Well we can either have a chat here now or down the station, whichever you prefer."

"Come on in," the man says reluctantly loosing the Agents into his house.

Gibbs follows the man through the house into the kitchen, McGee following behind them silently.

"Lieutenant Adams," Gibbs starts, "What was your relationship with Sergeant Thompson like?"

"Call me Ben, please," Lieutenant Adams states, "He's my senior officer and was also training me to be a sniper, why?"

"Did you get along well with Thompson?"

"We have our minor differences, but doesn't everyone. What are you implying?"

"Right now nothing," Gibbs states, "we're just trying to get a feel for Sergeant Thompson's life, who he worked with, what he did in his spare time, that sort of thing."

"Well I can't tell you much about his personal life, we weren't close. I know he had a son, Joseph but that's about it. He kept himself to himself at work, and I've never really spent any time with him in a personal setting. I'm sorry I can't be of more help. What happened exactly?"

"Right now, because this is an ongoing investigation all I can tell you is that him and his son we're each shot twice, at the boy's school. If you think of anything else please get in touch." Gibbs says handing him his card, "I'm sure we will need to speak to you again sometime."

With that Gibbs and McGee leave the house and head back to NCIS headquarters.

To be continued...


	7. Evening at Gibbs House

**Author's Notes:** I've only got internet access for a couple of hours (Which is almost up), so I'm posting the remainder of what I've got already written on this story. The next update won't be for at least a few weeks cause I'm back in the countryside again until sometime mid-September.

**- Chapter 6: Evening at Gibbs House -**_  
_

The rest of the day for Gibbs and his team, passes with little activity other than report writing and gathering together the information they have uncovered. At around 7pm that evening Gibbs sends his team home, knowing there is not much else they can do until the morning. At around 9pm Gibbs shuts down his own computer and heads home, content to work on his boat with a bottle of bourbon for company.

Gibbs is down in his basement, silently sanding his boat, the same place he's been for the past two hours, when he hears heeled footsteps making their way slowly down the stairs. He turns to look who the intruder is when he senses them reach the bottom step. He is not surprised to find Director Jennifer Sheppard, his boss and former lover stood silently on the bottom step observing his every move. What he is surprised by though is the red ringed, puffy eyes indicating she's been crying and the dried tear tracks staining her face.

"Jen," Gibbs greets trying to judge her mood and the best course of action.

"Jethro," Jen replies, taking slow steady steps towards him.

When they are only a few centimeters apart, Gibbs holds out his arms to allow her to fall into them for a much needed hug. "What happened Jen?" he asks running soothing circles on her back with his hands.

His words cause more tears to flow from her eyes the reality of the situation setting in. When eventually she has calmed down enough to speak, she steps out of his comforting embrace but not far enough away that she can't touch him. "I was in my study doing paperwork and writing case reports when the phone rang. I got up to answer it and for a short while all I could hear was static, then a muffled voice came through and said, 'I know who you are, where you live and where you work Director, and I also know all your secrets. If you want to live long enough to see that little girl grow up, you will stop the investigation into Mr Thompson immediately."

"Oh Jen," Gibbs says pulling her into another hug, "Wait a minute, what little girl, who's the bastard on about Jen?"

Jen swallows deeply and then takes a deep breath to focus her thoughts, reluctant to tell him the truth just yet.

"Izzy," she says simply giving him time to make the connection, "she's my niece," she adds carefully lying her way out of telling the full story just yet.

"You mean the little red-headed girl I spoke to at the school today? She's your niece? I thought she looked familiar and I should have realized with the name, but how come you never said anything before?"

"I didn't know how," Jen replies, "I'm scared, I don't know what I'd do if something ever happened to her but I can't just stop the case. What am I going to do?"

"Don't panic Jen, we'll think of something," Gibbs says pulling her back to him and placing a light kiss to her forehead, "Where is she now, is she safe?"

"She's staying over at her friend Tammy's house tonight, she's fine, and Tammy's parents are both FBI agents."

"Ok," Gibbs says reluctant to let her move away from him, "What about you, have you got anyone to look after you?"

"Not really, when I got the call I panicked and just ran to the first person I could think of, I'm sorry to trouble you with all this Jethro, I should probably go," Jen says making a move to step out of his arms.

Gibbs automatically tightens his hold on her to prevent her from going anywhere, "Don't be," he says, "I'm glad you came, and you really shouldn't be on your own with that bastard out there, who knows what he might do, you're welcome to stay if you want to."

"Thank you," Jen says returning his hug before taking a step back.

"Drink?" Gibbs asks picking up the bottle of bourbon sitting on the workbench.

Jen nods her head in silent agreement and Gibbs pours the amber liquid into two mugs, before handing one to her. He takes a big sip of his own before resting it on the worktop and returning to sanding his boat.

Jen settles into the overused sofa in the corner and watches him meticulously sand the boat, sipping at her mug of bourbon. She slowly drifts off to sleep with the comforting sounds of the sander scraping rhythmatically across the wood. An hour or so later, Gibbs decides he's tired and so after replacing his tools and drinking the last few swigs of his bourbon, he removes the mug from Jenny's hands, places it on the worktop, before carefully scooping her up into his arms and carrying her up to his barely used bedroom.

He removes her shoes and jacket, before tucking her in, and then he strips to his underwear before crawling in next to her and wrapping his arm around her waist. Within minutes he is fast asleep.


	8. The Next Day

**- Chapter 7: The Next Day -**

The next morning Jenny wakes up to the sun peeping through the curtains and creating strange patterns on her face, she slowly opens her eyes and takes in her surroundings, not remembering how she came to be in Gibbs bedroom. She rolls over to find him wrapped around her still sound asleep. She gently runs her hand from his cheek bone, and down his neck to rest comfortably on his chest. Gibbs slowly awakens greeting her with a grumbled, "morning," and a light kiss to the cheek.

Jenny carefully sits up, trying not to disturb the blankets too much, and kisses him back, replying in kind to his greeting. A few minutes pass in comfortable silence before they manage to drag themselves out of bed and downstairs to the kitchen for coffee and breakfast.

After his first coffee of the morning, Gibbs begins to resemble his normal self and on noticing the time he hurries to get ready for work. Jenny digs into the drawers in his bedroom in the hopes of finding a change of clothes that she left behind on one of her many previous visits to Gibbs house over the past 9 years or so. She is successful in her efforts and makes her way to the bathroom to shower and change.

Both Jenny and Gibbs arrive at work 15 minutes later than they should, with a few questioning looks as they step from the elevator together.

"Thank you," Jenny says to Gibbs as she steps out of the elevator and makes her way up the steps to her office.

Gibbs understands her silent meaning and nods his head in acknowledgement knowing they will talk later.

"Right, are there any new developments?" Gibbs asks his team as he sets foot in the bullpen.

Later on in the day Gibbs and his team are all busily typing away at the case reports at their desks when Gibbs attention is grabbed by the ding of the elevator. Out steps the SecNav with the little girl he spoke to yesterday, who he now knows to be Jenny's niece. He watches their progress up the stairs and into the director's office wondering why and how the SecNav knows the Director's niece.

"Jenny," SecNav says upon entering her office with Isabella in tow, "how's everything going?"

"Edward," Jenny greets before she is pounced upon by her daughter, "Long story," Jenny sighs remembering the events of last night.

"Care to explain," SecNav asks, taking a seat on the comfortable leather sofa across from the desk, watching Isabella run around the small office.

Jenny explains the events of last night leaving out the bits of her turning to Gibbs for comfort and reassurance, one of her best friends the SecNav may be, but he is still her boss, and she's crossed enough boundaries in her time without blurring the lines anymore.

Upon hearing the story, and seeing the newly formed tears in Jenny's eyes, SecNav get's up from his seat and gives her a reassuring hug. "Don't worry," he says, then upon seeing a good opportunity he adds, "Have you thought about getting some additional protection detail until all of this is cleared up? I'm willing to authorize it if you want me to. It may give you a bit more peace of mind, for yourself and Isabella," and me, he adds silently.

"I've already got protection detail."

"I know, but it never hurts to take extra precautions, especially when threats have been made against your life. Technically I should enforce this, make it an order, but being your friend, I'm giving you the choice, and the option to pick yourself."

Jenny takes a few minutes to mull over what's been said before realizing that he's right, and that she needs to do this for Izzy's sake as well as her own. "Ok," she finally agrees, setting the wheels in motion, "Any recommendations?"

SecNav leaves the office, with Isabella in tow and Jenny following on his heels to break the news to Jenny's best team.

"Gibbs, can you and your team make your way to MTAC as soon as possible please? I need to speak to you all regarding some new information on your current case," SecNav announces in the bullpen before making his way to MTAC with Jenny and Isabella.

Gibbs gets up from his seat and silently indicates for his team to follow, wondering what the SecNav wants to speak to them all about, it's rare for him to make personal visits to Headquarters, and he usually communicates with them all through the MTAC video link.

Inside MTAC SecNav arranges for all the cameras and recording equipment to be turned off, whist Jenny settles Isabella down with a coloring book and some pens.

Gibbs and his team arrive shortly afterwards and settle into the seats provided Gibbs with his ever present cup of coffee in hand.

Once everyone is settled, SecNav recounts the conversation he had with Jenny in her office not so long ago, explaining that they both think extra protection would be a good idea and that it's been left up to Gibbs team to organize.

As soon as the meeting is over and everyone dismissed, SecNav makes his excuses and leaves promising to call and check in later in the evening. Gibbs stays behind to talk to Jenny about the situation.

"You probably shouldn't stay at home Jen, encase this bastard really does no where you live."

"Well where do you suggest we stay then?" Jenny asks, including Isabella in her statement.

"With me," Gibbs answers simply, knowing his suggestion will be met with skepticism.

"Right, and that's a good idea how exactly? We don't even know who this man is, how do you know he's not been following you and know where you live too, how is your house any safer than mine, you leave the front door unlocked for God's sake."

"I never said it was a good idea, I just made a suggestion. Take it or leave it."

Jenny takes a few minutes to weigh up the pros and cons of his idea before finally agreeing to it, knowing she's always felt safe, comfortable and protected at his house.

_To be continued...  
_


	9. Protection Detail

_**Authors Notes:** Sorry for the long delay in adding this chapter, I lost all perspective on where I was going with it for a while. I've used the last few months to catch up with all the episodes of NCIS I hadn't had a chance to watch before (I.e all of seasons 6 and 7, and random episodes from season's 4 and 5). I managed to get hold of a copy of the new season 8 episode too (if you haven't seen it yet and want a copy PM or email me with your email address and I'll send you a copy), so I'm all up to date now and I've actually got a slight idea of where I'm going with this. Future chapters will include hints of Jibbs, Tiva and possibly even a tiny bit of McAbby. I've kinda got TIVA on the brain after all the new episodes, so sorry if I go off on a tangent there. This is a bit of a filler chapter, so nothing exciting happens, but I think it's needed to set the scene for the rest of the story. It's not been betaed so you will find mistakes but I wanted to get it out, I'll check it over for mistakes and correct any I find tomorrow. Right, I think that's all for now. If you read this a review would be nice to let me know what you thought of it._

**- Chapter 8: Protection Detail -**

A few hours later and Gibbs and his team have been organized in shifts to watch over Jenny and Isabella. Gibbs stated himself as taking the night shift, insisting that they stay at his house like he'd mentioned earlier in the day, with McGee as back-up. Tony and Ziva we're to take the day shift, and they we're also responsible for taking the Director to her house to gather the things she would need for the next few days, which is where they we're now.

Isabella was running around the house under Tony's watchful eye, while Ziva went upstairs with the Director to help her pack the things she will need. "Are you ok with all of this Jenny?" Ziva asks her friend once they are alone in Jenny's bedroom, an empty suitcase lying open on the bed.

"What do you mean Ziva?" Jenny asks her confused at the meaning behind the conversation.

"I'm only thinking about you, we all know how Gibbs gets when children are involved in a case, and how attached to them he gets, I'm just concerned about how this is going to affect you all, when we finally catch the guy I mean."

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it Ziva, right now my main priority is Izzy's safety. That's why I'm trusting you all with this mission. Gibb's knows what he's doing and I trust him."

They are interrupting from continuing their conversation when Izzy races into the room sending the pile of clothes in Jenny's hands flying to the floor; Tony entering the room a few seconds behind her.

"Sorry Director," Tony says picking up a sock that has landed on his shoe and passing it to her.

"It's ok DiNozzo; she can be a handful at times," Jenny says taking the sock and giving Izzy the silent order to settle down with a glare that could rival Gibb's.

Izzy, knowing that she's getting on her mom's nerves sits down on the bed glancing around the room at the new people, well person; she's known Ziva for a while.

"Aunt Ziva," she asks after about 5 minutes of silence in which Jenny had placed numerous items into the rapidly filling suitcase, "What's going on? Are we going on a trip?"

"Sort of," Ziva replies, "You and Jenny are going to be staying with our boss for a few days."

"Why?"

"Because..." Ziva trails off not sure how to explain the situation to the young girl.

"Because someone may be after us sweetie," Jenny takes over the explanations, "I just want to make sure you don't get hurt so we're going to stay with Gibbs for a little while until we catch the person who's out to get us."

"Has this got something to do with what happened to Jose, and his Dad?" she asks sadly, a lone tear rolling down her cheek.

"Ken," Ziva whispers barely audible.

Silence rains for a few more minutes until Izzy comes up with another question; "Who's Gibbs? Wait is he the policeman that spoke to me at school today before Uncle Edward came to get me?"

Jenny looks at Ziva for an explanation, before turning round and saying, "Yes, he works at NCIS with me and is Ziva and Tony's boss."

"But I thought you we're boss?"

"I am, I'm his boss, if that makes sense."

"I think I get it," Izzy mumbles, "Will he mind us staying with him though?"

"No, he won't mind sweetheart," Jenny says before placing the last items into the suitcase and zipping it up.

She gives the case to Tony before stepping out of the room and into Izzy's room to pack up her things.

"How long are we staying?" Izzy asks, following her mother into her room and picking up the white teddy resting on her bed.

"I'm not sure, as long as it takes," she answers simply.

Once everything that they need is packed, Tony takes the luggage downstairs to load into the car, while Jenny and Ziva do a quick check to make sure they haven't forgotten anything and that the house is secure. They then follow Tony out to the car where he is playing eye-spy with Izzy.

Jenny locks up her house before jumping into the passenger seat of the blue sedan, Ziva taking the driver's seat much to Tony's horror. They all strap themselves in before Ziva sets off on the short drive to Gibbs house, actually keeping to the road laws for once.

They all arrive at Gibbs house 20 minutes later, and after checking its safe, Ziva exit's the car along with the others. Tony retrieves the luggage from the boot whilst Ziva, Jenny and Izzy walk up the path to Gibb's house. Gibbs opens the door before they reach it and invites them all inside, taking the bags from Tony and taking them upstairs to his room for the time being.

He returns to find them all gathered in his kitchen sipping on the cups of coffee and juice he'd prepared for their arrival. He settles himself down next to Jenny on one of the stools before turning his attention to his team and giving them new orders. He sends Tony, Ziva and McGee to investigate a new lead before turning his attention to Jenny and her niece.

"Now what?" Jenny asks him exhausted from all the thinking she's been doing over the past couple of days. They are still no closer to finding out who killed Mr Thompson and his son, nor in discovering who made the threatening phone call to Jenny the night before.

"We wait," Gibbs replies, "Tony and Ziva are still looking into the details of Mr Thompson's demise, and McGee is tracing all incoming calls to your house last night to try and locate the person who made that call, Abby is rechecking over the evidence and Ducky and Mr Palmer are just finishing up with the autopsies. The only thing we can do is wait until something new comes up."

"What about me and Izzy?" Jenny asks, concerned about her little girl.

"Why do you think you're here Jen? I'm not about to let anything happen to either of you, now come on, you're exhausted. Go and get yourselves settled in and get some rest. We can talk tomorrow.

"Ok," Jenny reluctantly agrees, noticing that Izzy is starting to drift off on her arm.

Gibbs takes one look at her, and then glances at Jenny's exhausted form before making his decision and picking her up to carry upstairs to the guest room. Jenny protests slightly before realizing she is just too exhausted to carry the 9 year old herself and follows Jethro up the stairs. Jethro, carefully places the sleeping 9 year old into the bed in his guest room and tucks her in before turning back to Jenny who is hovering in the doorway uncertainly.

Once Gibbs takes a step towards her and indicates for her to follow him, she walks up to Izzy and kisses her goodnight before following Jethro out of the room and turning out the lights.

"You can take my bed," he says guiding her into the room, "I rarely use it anyway."

Jenny is about to protest again when he stops her with a small peck on the lips. "Now sleep," he orders, pushing her further into the room before backing away ready to go and start work on his boat.

He just steps out of the doorway when Jenny calls him back, "Stay," she says simply, "I don't want to be alone tonight," she adds when he looks at her unconvinced.

It is all the encouragement he needs to step back into the room and shut the door behind him. Stripping down to his underwear he gets into the bed and lies down, drifting into a light sleep.

Finally satisfied he's not going anywhere Jenny gets herself changed into her bed clothes before crawling in beside him and falling asleep herself, the smell of sawdust, coffee and bourbon lulling her senses into sleep.

_to be continued..._


	10. Nightmares

_**Authors Notes: **I finally got around to writing the next chapter by going on a late night writing spree last night. I managed to write this chapter and get a start on the next two chapters, as well as planning ideas for up to chapter 14/15. On the few notes I've made you can say this story will have at least another 5 chapters, probably a lot more though. I won't say anymore than that, I don't want to give too much away just yet. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far and to those who have added it to favorites or alerts._

_Also for anyone who is interested in seeing pictures of the characters, and finding out a little more about them (although most of the information will be revealed throughout the process of the story anyway) you can find bio's for them at http:/ kate (dot) coffeedesigns (dot) net (replace (dot) with . and remove the spaces.) You will also find the link in my profile. I also realized I messed up a little in the last chapter, Izzy is 9 not 8, sorry for any confusion, I've gone back and changed it now, and am busy checking the rest of the story for inconsistencies but thought I best inform anyone who read the original chapter. With all that said, please read and review._

**- Chapter 9: Nightmares -**

In the night Gibbs is awoken by a sound he struggles to identify, not sure if it's real or still a fragment of his dream about his late daughter Kelly. Although he is reluctant to say anything to any of the team this latest case and meeting Izzy have brought thoughts about his daughter Kelly to the forefront of his mind. In the little time since he has met Izzy, he can't help but notice how similar to Kelly in her mannerisms she is and he often wishes his daughter was still alive. Another frightened cry breaks him from his thoughts and he rolls out of bed to investigate. Picking his gun up, he makes his way toward the guest room where the noise is coming from.

He steps into the room fully prepared to shoot an intruder, but relaxes slightly when he realizes that the noise is coming from the form on the bed, that is crying out and shifting restlessly in her sleep. Gibbs, instantly realizing she is having a nightmare follows his instincts and steps closer to the bed, resting a calming hand on Izzy's back and talking to her soothingly, being sure not to make any sudden movements or do anything to startle her. Gibbs soothing voice eventually begins to seep through Izzy's nightmare, and she wakes up jerking restlessly. Her eyes wildly scan the room, not recognizing the surroundings she almost begins to panic, until she hears Gibbs voice talking to her again.

Somehow his tone soothes her, and she turns her head around to look into his startling blue eyes. Something about his entire presence works to calm her down, and with a few deep breaths, she wipes the tears from her eyes and whispers groggily, "Mr Gibbs, where am I?"

Gibb's calmly explains that she's at his house and eventually Izzy remembers how she got there and why. "Jose was murdered," she whispers out to the room in general in a really soft voice, not expecting Gibbs to hear her.

"Yes he was," Gibbs answers in a similar tone, "Were you close?"

"Very," Izzy whispers, "He was like an older brother to me even though he's only 9 months older than me, I spent a lot of time at his house and we used to hang about a lot at school. Last summer we spent most of it on the beach. His dad took us all for a whole week because he had some time off work. Other than Tammy, he was probably my closest friend."

"Tammy?" Gibbs questions not knowing anything about Izzy's friends or family.

"Yes, she's my best friend and I've known her since I was tiny. Her mom works for the FBI and her dad is a metro cop. I spend a lot of time at her house. Her Granddad lives with them so there is always someone home to look after us when our parents are working. I stayed at her house last night."

"You must be really close," Gibbs states thinking back to when Kelly was little and how she was almost glued at the hip to her best friend Maddie.

"We are. I'm close to all my friend's they're like family to me. I've known Tammy and her family the longest, but Sam became my best friend when I moved over here and Matt and Jose are both in classes with me. Or was, I should probably say," Izzy says, more tears snaking down her face.

"Hey," Gibbs says pulling her into a loose hug, "I'll catch whoever did this but your friend would want you to be strong for him, right? He'll still live on in your memories."

"I guess," Izzy says sniffling through the rest of her tears, "What's gonna happen now, Auntie Ziva and Ima said someone may be after us?"

"Ima?" Gibbs echo's lost for a second.

"Auntie Ziva has taught me some Hebrew," Izzy explains, remembering that for safety reasons she calls her mom her Aunt around people who don't know them well, "and I kind of like that one. Sam can speak Hebrew, her moms a translator."

"Ok," Gibbs shakes his head dismissing his previous thoughts about the English translation of Ima. "Me and my team are looking into who threatened you and your Aunt Jenny, we will catch him, whoever it is, until then though, so you are both kept safe you can stay here with me, is that ok?"

"I guess," Izzy replies, "Are you sure you don't mind us staying with you though. It can't be fun sharing your home with someone you don't know."

"I don't mind," Gibbs reassures her, "besides, I've known your Aunt Jenny for a long time, and although we don't always get along we still look out for each other. She's your family which means I'll look out for you too. Anytime, even when you're all grown up, if you need someone to talk to or help you in some way, I'll be here."

"Thank you," Izzy whispers feeling tired again.

"Now," Gibbs says noticing her eyes beginning to drift, "You get some more sleep and tomorrow you can get to meet the rest of the team, if that's ok with you. I think you'll like our forensic scientist Abby."

"Ok," Izzy smiles tiredly before drifting back off to sleep. Gibbs takes one last look at her sleeping form before quietly standing up and heading for the door again.

Walking out of the door he almost walks right into Jen who was standing in the open doorway watching the scene unfold before her. "Jen," He whispers, afraid of waking the sleeping girl behind him.

"Jethro," she responds.

"How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," Jenny replies, "You handled that really well Jethro."

"Thanks," he mumbles heading to the kitchen in search of a drink.

Jenny follows him to the kitchen and he pours them both a drink of bourbon which she takes from him and sips slowly. They sit in the silent kitchen just watching each others reactions, neither of them good with words.

About an hour later they both settle back into bed for a few more hours sleep, knowing that the coming few days are going to be long, hard and emotionally draining.

* * *

_**Translations**_

_Most of you probably already no, but for those that don't here are the translations of the non-english words._

_Ima - Mom (Hebrew)_


	11. Revelations Over Breakfast

_**Author's Notes: **I would like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, you are the one's who are the encouragement I need to continue writing this. I know a lot of you are asking when Jenny is gonna tell Gibbs the truth, and in answer to that, I haven't worked that bit out just yet. I'm determined to do it right, because I know if it's done to quickly the story looses it's appeal, but I also don't want to drag it out to much, so finding a happy medium is my plan. I'm thinking it will probably come about within the next few chapters, but I've got so many plan's for this story yet, it's no where close to finished. This chapter begin's part of the explainations to Gibbs, but as you will see it barely scratch's the surface._

**_Review Responses:_**

_itzcheeseball - Glad your enjoying it. Here's the next chapter._

_fart fart and Liina01- Don't worry the truth will come out soon. Not in this chapter but within the next 5 or so I'm thinking. I don't want to rush it._

_Tempe4Booth - At this point in time Jenny doesn't know about Kelly, even though they are really good friends and have been since she became the director. They were not in contact with each other between the end of Paris and the start of her joining NCIS as Director, hence why Gibbs doesn't know about Izzy, but in a couple of chapter's time i'm going to have them have a big conversation where they share all the information about each of their pasts. Little bits will come out each chapter from now onwards so stay tuned._

___I don't want to give everything away, so I'll leave you to read it for now. _

**- Chapter 10: Revelations Over Breakfast -**

The next morning Jenny is the first one awake, used to getting up early. She makes her way to the bathroom being careful not to wake Jethro. Feeling the shift of the bed, and the cool air now reaching his skin, Jethro wakes up a few minutes later, and after waiting for Jenny to finish in the bathroom, he follows her lead. They meet up in the kitchen a few minutes later where Jenny, still in her nightwear has just set up the coffee machine for their morning caffeine kick.

Since having Izzy, Jenny herself has become dependent on coffee in a similar way to Gibbs, although she is a lot less obvious about it, one of the perks of being Director of a federal agency. After finishing her coffee, refusing a second she heads back to the bathroom for a shower.

While Jenny is up in the shower, Izzy gets up and pads into the kitchen feeling a little lost.

"Good morning," Gibbs greets her warmly pulling out a seat for her and asking what she would like for breakfast.

Izzy asks if he's got any cereal, surprised to find that he's got her favorite. Gibbs finds the dishes, spoons and milk and brings them to the table where they both settle down to breakfast together.

"How are you feeling this morning?" Gibbs asks breaking the silence.

"Ok," Izzy answers a sad look passing across her face as she remembers the nightmare she had last night. "You said something about meeting the people you work with?" she asks remembering the discussion they had in the middle of the night after her nightmare.

"Yes," Gibbs replies, "Your school is staying shut for today, and both me and your aunt have got to work, you can't really stay here on your own, so I thought it might be a good idea for you to come to work with us. You can meet the rest of the team, I'm sure you'll like them."

"Tell me about them," Izzy asks softly, curious as to his perceptions of the people he and her mom work with.

"Ok," Gibbs says swallowing a mouthful of cereal and deciding on where to begin, "You already know Ziva right, and you met Tony yesterday when he went with you to get your things."

Izzy nods in response.

"Ok, so we've got Ducky, our medical examiner. He's the one that examines all of the victim's bodies. He's a lovely older gentleman who enjoys telling stories from his youth. He also has the best advice and is the best one to turn to with any problems, next we have his assistant Jimmy Palmer, he's still being trained by Ducky, but is an essential part of the team, and then we have Abby, our Gothic forensic scientist. She's the clever one, and is really hyper and cheerful. She's a bit like a daughter to me. We've also got Tim McGee; he's our computer specialist and is almost a match to Abby in computer skills, and the two work well together, especially where computers are concerned, he also writes novels in his spare time. I think you've met everyone else. Why don't you tell me how you came to know Ziva?"

"Ok," Izzy replies thinking through her words to remember the cover story her and her mom have got for situations like this, "I met Ziva in Europe when Ima was working over there. Ziva saved her life and they have been best friends for a long time. Other than Ima and Tammy and her family, she is one of the only people I knew back then. I've always called her auntie because that's what she's always been like to me. She's taught me a lot and even lived with us for a few years."

"I've noticed that you always seem to call Jenny, Ima, why is that?" Gibbs asks the curiosity beginning to get to him.

"I pretty much always have," Izzy confesses, the story they concocted running through her brain, "My mommy died when I was too tiny to remember and Jenny raised me as her own, to me she is my mommy. Ima is Hebrew for mom, and my friend at school Sam, calls her mommy Ima so I kind of got used to using it too. Does it bother you?"

"No not at all, I was just curious, so what about you're other friends. You haven't said that much about them yet."

"I guess," Izzy says scratching her head in thought, trying to remember what she has and hasn't told him so far, "I guess I should start from the beginning, Tammy was my first real friend and I met her at nursery. Her parents we're police officers in London, where we all lived at the time. We've always been close but she only moved to America a few years ago, although she used to visit often. Her cousin lives over here, but I haven't met her yet. When I first moved to America, I didn't know anyone. I met Sam on my first day at school, and we got along straight away. She was adopted as a baby and doesn't know anything about her real family. Her mom is a translator for the FBI; she speaks fluent Hebrew and some other similar languages. Sam's Dad was born in Turkey, so she hears a lot of different languages at home. She's a bit like a younger version of Auntie Ziva, mixing up some of her English words. I find it funny and keep telling her that one day she'll have to meet my Auntie. Sam is a bit younger than me and is not in any of my classes at school. It was in my first science practical that I met Jose and Matt, I had no one to work with and so the teacher paired me with them. I was a little nervous at first but we got on really well and have been best friends ever since. At least one of them was in most of my classes and we have a lot in common. Matt's parents both work for the Navy, and are almost always working so he spent most of his time at Jose's house. After Ima met his dad, and got to know him a bit I often joined them. We are like one big family. What about you Gibbs, where's your family?"

Gibbs sighs, a sad look crossing his face at the memories of his first wife Shannon and daughter Kelly, but on seeing the hopeful look on the young girls face he decides to tell her the story, "I haven't got a family, well other than my Dad who lives a long way away so I only see him on occasion."

"What happened," Izzy asks, noticing the hidden sadness in his words.

"I had a wife Shannon and Daughter Kelly," Gibbs begins.

"Where are they now? Why aren't they here?"

"They died. They witnessed a murder while I was away fighting in a war, and the officer who was meant to be protecting them was shot and crashed into a tree. Neither of them survived, the only thing I've got left is memories and photographs," Gibbs explains picking up a framed photo from the fireplace and showing it to the young girl in front of him, "Kelly was only about your age at the time."

"Oh Gibbs, that's so sad," Izzy says, giving him a hug before saying more, "Tammy's cousin had a best friend called Kelly who died when they were little," she adds.

Just then they hear Jenny returning from the bathroom and decide to end their conversation for now. Jenny settles at the table to tuck into her own breakfast whilst Gibbs goes to the bathroom to get himself showered and dressed for work. While Jenny eats her breakfast, Izzy stacks her empty dish in the sink and goes to get dressed herself, kissing her mom on the forehead as she passes her.

Half an hour later they are all ready to go and head to NCIS headquarters in Gibbs truck.

_to be continued..._

_I don't think there are any unexplained translations in this chapter, but if i'm missed any please be sure to PM me and let me know. I use the odd Hebrew word quite frequently in my daily life now (No i'm not fluent, just the odd word's I've picked up from NCIS) often without realising it._


	12. Kids at NCIS

_**Authors Notes:** I really struggled to write this one, no matter what I do I can't seem to get it right, but oh well. I give up messing with it, I just hope it's readable and makes sense to you. Unfortunetly you won't get another update from me until the new year, this is the bit where the story takes a big twist and I've been doing lots of reasearch so I can get it just right. Well if you can call watching US crime dramas and reading fanfic reasearch lol. I've still got a lot planned for this but am stuggling to get it to work right so hang in there. I want to say a big thankyou to everyone who reads this story and especially to those who review. Without you this story wouldn't have got this far. Merry Xmas and Happy New Year to you all._

**CHAPTER 11: KIDS AT NCIS**

Less than an hour after breakfast, Jenny, Gibbs and Izzy arrive at the NCIS building where they are immediately tackled by Abby. "Gibbs," she yells in her high pitched voice, "You'll never guess what I found?"

"Calm down Abby," Jenny says, trying to calm the over-excited younger woman.

It's only then that Abby notices Izzy. "You never told me you had Giblets Gibbs," Abby directs at him with a frown, before turning her attention to the young girl stood quietly between Gibbs and the Director, "Hi, I'm Abby and who might you be?"

"Izzy," the girl stutters nervously holding her hand out to shake Abby's.

Izzy isn't normally nervous but a lot of things have happened in the past few days and she's still trying to process everything. She brightens up instantly though, when Ziva exits the elevator and sweeps her up in a big hug.

"Auntie Ziva," Izzy giggles, "I'm too old for that."

"You're never too old for hugs," Abby informs her giving Ziva a bear hug.

"Abby, Can't breathe," Ziva chokes out gasping for air.

"Sorry Zi," Abby say's releasing her.

Ziva silently asks Jenny if it's ok if she takes Izzy with her to introduce to the rest of the team, receiving a barely visible nod in reply. Ziva then heads back to the elevator with Abby and Izzy to introduce her to Ducky and Jimmy and to show her around Abby's Lab.

The three run into Tony in the elevator and decide to take him with them on their little tour of the NCIS building.

"So, how was last night Izzy," Ziva asks her in Hebrew, "It must have been weird being in Gibbs house, and how are you anyway, I've not seen you in a while?"

"I'm good thanks Auntie Ziva, and last night was a little weird but it was ok, Mr Gibbs seems really nice," Izzy replies.

"What are you guys saying?" Tony asks, unable to understand the language they are speaking in but receiving no response.

Ziva and Izzy continue conversing in Hebrew until they reach the level for Autopsy. They all step out of the elevator and Abby leads to way into the autopsy lab calling out for Ducky.

"Good Morning Abigail, what brings you down here on this beautiful day?" Ducky says not looking up from the photographs, he is studying.

"Hi, we've got a Giblet for you to meet Duckman," Abby says brightly stepping into the room with the others trailing behind her.

Ducky finally looks up from his work and notices the other people who have just entered the room. "Good morning, Antony, Ziva, and who have we got here then?"

"Morning Ducky," Tony and Ziva greet together, "Ducky, I would like you to meet Izzy, a relation of the Director's." Ziva adds being very vague about Izzy's connection to the team.

"Nice to meet you young Isabel, my name is Doctor Mallard but most people just call me Ducky," Ducky greets the young red headed girl.

"Izzy," she corrects automatically, shaking the doctors hand, "nice to meet you too Ducky. I've heard lots of nice things about you."

"What brings you all down here this morning then?" Ducky asks the group of people standing in front of him.

"I was giving Izzy a tour of the building and wanted to introduce you to her," Ziva explains, "Abby and Tony decided to come along as well. Is Mr Palmer here yet, I'm sure he'd love to meet her too."

"Hey guys," Jimmy Palmer calls out removing his coat and stepping towards the group, obviously having just arrived at work.

Ziva proceeds to introduce him to Izzy before they all decide that they really need to get started on some work and all head off in separate directions. Abby offers to let Izzy stay with her down in the lab for today, knowing that the squad room is not exactly the ideal place for a young girl to be, especially when the team is busy working on a case. After confirming its ok with Jenny, Abby takes Izzy with her to her lab where she is quick to introduce her to her major mass spec and Bert the farting hippo.

Izzy and Abby spend most of the day talking, listening to music and working on identifying fingerprints and processing the other evidence. By lunchtime, Izzy has learnt a lot about forensic science and has become best of friends with Abby.

Sometime just after 12:30pm, Gibb's comes down to the lab to see them, with a Caf-pow for Abby, and a sandwich and orange juice for Izzy. "How are you doing?" Gibbs asks sneaking up on them in his usual manner.

Izzy lets out a squeak in shock before spinning around to face him. Gibb's offers her the food he has bought down for her and she in turn, gives him a big hug in thanks. Abby simply watches the show with avid interest, trying to figure out why the sight seems like an everyday occurrence. Maybe it's just that Gibb's is really good with kids.

The afternoon is even less eventful than the morning, nothing other than the daily occurrences of NCIS happening. Late into the afternoon, just has Izzy is getting bored of just hanging around the lab, her pocket starts ringing. Pulling out a fairly new looking cell phone from her pocket, Izzy answers it glad for the distraction.

"Hi" she greets the person on the other side in the most cheerful voice she has been able to muster for a few days.

"I dunno," she says into the handset a few minutes later, "I'd have to ask Ima and Mr Gibbs to see if it's alright."

When her friend on the other end of the line asks her who Mr Gibbs is, Izzy tells her about how she stayed at his house the night before and how she may be staying there for a while yet. She ends the call after telling her friend that she will call her back later after she has asked if it's ok.

After hanging up, she turns to Abby to ask her opinion on the matter. "Abby," she says to get the older girls attention, "Do you think Mr Gibbs would mind if I went to my friend's house this weekend, I mean he said he's meant to be protecting us or something and I dunno how he will react?"

"The only way you will know is if you ask him," Abby tells her, "He thinks a lot of you, I noticed today, so whatever he says, he's putting your best interests first ok."

"I guess, he seems really nice, but I don't wanna get him mad, I hate when people are mad at me, they're scary," Izzy states failing to withhold a tear that runs down her cheek, before she wipes it away with her thumb.

Abby wraps the younger girl in a big bear hug and this is how Gibbs finds them a few minutes later as he comes down to the lab to get Izzy so they can all head home.

"What ya doing?" Gibbs calls into the lab causing the two girls to step apart.

"Abby was giving me a hug," Izzy states the obvious ignoring the not so subtle nudges from Abby.

Eventually she gains the courage to ask him and says in a rush of words much like Abby when she's had too much caf-pow, "MrGibbs,?"

"I didn't get a word of that," Gibbs states, "Can you repeat it but slower so I can understand?"

Izzy nods before repeating her sentence, "Mr Gibbs, my best friend Tammy just called and asked if it would be ok if I stayed over her house this weekend and I thought I better ask you because Ima said we are staying with you for a while and you're protecting us or something so what do you say?"

Gibbs scratches his head thoughtfully mulling over the dangers of letting her stay at her friend's house. He is meant to be protecting them after all, and they don't yet know the full extent of the threat but on the other hand Izzy really needs to spend a bit of time around kids her own age. Its a few minutes later before Gibbs comes up with a solution.

"How about we make a compromise," Gibbs suggests, "because a little birdy told me it's your birthday this weekend. I don't think I need to explain to you that it's not really safe for you to be on your own right now, but what if I said you can invite a couple of your friends round for a couple of hours for your birthday and you can have one stay overnight, if their parents agree that is?"

"Thanks Mr Gibbs, you're the best," Izzy says cheerfully running up to him and giving him a big bear hug.

Gibbs just lets out a chuckle of amusement glad he's able to make the young girl happy. Not for the first time in the past couple of days, he notices how much like his late daughter Kelly she is.

This is how Jenny finds them when she steps into the room a few minutes later, wondering what's taking them so long. Jethro had agreed to go and get Izzy ready to go home, while she just finished up signing off on the last of the reports she had to do for the day and she would then meet them in the bullpen but after they hadn't turned up 10 minutes later she decided to go down and look for them.

Upon seeing the heart-warming sight in front of her, Jenny feels a sharp stab of regret about not telling Jethro the truth a long time ago. He would have made an excellent father for Izzy and she is sure things would not have been this awkward between them all. Reluctant to break up the scene Jenny makes a promise to herself that before work on Monday she will tell Jethro the truth, it's about time he gets to know his daughter as a daughter and not just the relative of a co-worker who needs his and his team's protection.

Clearing her throat she gets their attention, and Gibbs remembers why he came down to the lab in the first place. Lightly pushing her away from him, Gibb's gives Izzy to silent instruction that they are heading home, before turning his attention to Jenny to explain why they have made no attempt to leave the lab before now.

They both watch Izzy rushing around the lab collecting her things and saying her goodbyes to Abby. Gibbs breaks the silence between them by quietly telling Jenny about how he told Izzy she can have a friend over for the weekend. Jenny, although surprised at Gibbs easy acceptance of them both suddenly being in and taking over his life, is happy that things are working out so well and in agreement of the weekend arrangements, making a mental note to call around the parents of Izzy's friends to confirm the arrangements. After all, although it will be a lot of work on herself and Gibbs, it will be good for the kids to have some fun and a break from all the stress of the past few days.


	13. Parties and Memories

**Authors Notes:** Sorry there has been such a long delay in getting this chapter up, I've just had other things going on and I lost interest in this story for a while. I know I promised the truth would come out in this chapter, but now it will be in the chapter after this one, mainly because I decided to split this one into two separate chapters because of the length. Don't panic though, the next chapter and the one after that have already been drafted and will be up in a few days or so, I just need to get them checked over and perfected first. I'll spread them out over a couple of days so expect one before the weekend and the other one next week sometime. Thanks to everyone who has reviewed or added this story to their alerts, I really appreciate the encouragement.

**CHAPTER 12: PARTIES AND MEMORIES**

Gibb's steps out from his basement, into the living area of his house, where Izzy and Jen are walking through from the kitchen and into the garden preparing a mini tea party for Izzy and her friends to celebrate her birthday. The sight is heartwarming and he is glad he came up with the idea for the kid's tea party the day before. Closing his eyes he can almost see them as Kelly and Shannon before the tragic accident all those years ago.

The shrill laughter and the small arms grabbing him around the legs brings his attention back to the present time. Without really thinking about it Gibbs reaches down and sweeps Izzy up into his arms the way he used to with Kelly when she was alive, eliciting another giggle from the young girl.

Jen stops in the doorway taking in the sight of father and daughter and her heart melts at the sight in front of her. She feels a sharp stab of regret for not telling either of them the truth and keeping this big secret from them both for the past 10 years. They look so happy and content in each other's company and by not telling them the truth she has kept this from them.

Jen shakes herself out of her stupor as Gibbs approaches her, Izzy still curled snuggly in his arms. "You ok Jen?" Gibbs asks gruffly.

"Yeah, just thinking," Jen replies wiping away the one stray tear that has slid down her cheek, "I can't believe it's been 10 years already."

Gibbs pulls her in for a reassuring hug before lowering Izzy back to the ground and whispering into her ear to go and get the plastic cutlery and drinks because her friends will be there in a few minutes.

Izzy hugs both Gibbs and her mom before scurrying back to the kitchen to grab the last of the party things to set up outside for herself and her friends. Gibbs kindly agreed to get the old BBQ in his back yard up and running for her little tea party with her friends so they can all have burgers and hotdogs and lots of cake and ice-cream.

Izzy just finished putting the last of the items on the table before the bell rang indicating that one of her friends had arrived. She races to the door to lose them in but Gibbs gets there first opening the door and greeting Tammy and her mom and brother.

Tammy shyly stands beside her mom, nervous about meeting this new man who has become a part of Izzy's life. The adults introduce themselves and Gibbs invites them all in for a drink before the other kids arrive.

Izzy meets them in the living room, instantly running up and hugging her friend causing Tammy to drop her bags containing clothes and the things she'll need for the sleepover they're having after the party onto the floor. Once the two separate they talk about all the things they have missed in the past few days since they last saw each other. Jen suggests to the girls that they go and put Tammy's bags in what for the time being is Izzy's room before their other friends arrive for the party. Taking the hint the girls run upstairs to get set up while the adults talk.

Upstairs the girls sit on Izzy's bed just discussing how things are going now she and her mom are living with Gibbs. "It's really great," Izzy says enthusiastically, "I love being here and Mr. Gibbs is really nice to me and mom. This party was all his idea, and I don't even know how he knew it was my birthday today. Yesterday I went to work with him and mom, moms his boss see, and I met all the people he works with and they're really nice, especially Abby, she's really cool and has got a farting hippo."

"Wow," Tammy exclaims, "sounds like you've had fun, but isn't it a little weird being in his house and all, I mean the last person your mom lived with was really horrible and scary. My dad's a cop but I was still scared of him."

"Yeah I know, Mr. Roberts was really creepy, I hated him, but Mr. Gibbs isn't like that at all. It was a little weird and scary at first, but now I've decided I really like it here."

Their conversation is cut short by the bell ringing indicating that more of their friends have arrived. The two girls race back downstairs to greet everyone and once everyone has arrived they all go outside to play games while Gibbs and Jen cook the burgers and hotdogs.

An hour later the food is cooked and Izzy and her friends seat themselves around the table to eat and share gifts. The food is eaten amongst the chatter of excited children and Gibbs can't help but smile at the joyful laughter surrounding him. He missed out on so many children's parties and sleepovers after Kelly died and can't help but get lost in the memories. Izzy and her best friend Tammy remind him so much of Kelly and her best friend Maddie, so much so that they even look alike.

While the kids exchange birthday gifts, Gibbs escapes to the kitchen for a few minutes alone with his thoughts. If Kelly was still alive she'd be 23 now. Gibbs lets the visions of what could have been surround him for a few minutes, before he is pulled out of his thoughts by Jen resting a warm hand on his back. "Jethro," she says, barely above a whisper.

"Jen," Gibbs responds in the same tone.

They just look at each other for a few seconds a silent conversation passing between them, before silently agreeing to head back outside to the kids.

Outside Izzy and her friends are running round the garden playing with a ball. It's nice to see them all relaxed and having fun after the trauma and stress of the past few days. The investigation into the shooting of Mr. Thompson and his son Joseph took a new turn the previous day and instead of looking for just one shooter, they are now looking for a gang that according to similar case reports from other agencies is responsible for a number of deaths of involving law enforcement agents and their children. Each of the cases differ in a lot of ways but the link was established by the connection to the school that Izzy and her friends attend. All of the murdered children had at some point attended that school or their parents had strong links to it, and in all cases the parent was either a law enforcement agent, or a member of the Navy. That alone puts every one of Izzy's friends at risk as well as anyone who has attended the school.

The hours of the afternoon drift away slowly with the kids playing in the garden until the temperature outside gets too cool. They then settle in the living room playing a board game until it is time for their parents to come and collect them. Ziva, Tony and the rest of the team drop in for an hour or so at various intervals throughout the day to wish Izzy an happy birthday, before returning to their activities for the day.

Matthew's parents are the first to arrive to collect one of the kids and he leaves after a lot of hugs from his friends. Sam soon follows her parents thanking both Gibbs and Jenny for their generosity at this difficult time. Pretty soon it's only Izzy, Tammy, Jen and Gibbs left in the house. All four of them play one last board game before it's decided that it's getting late and they should all be heading to bed for a few hours of sleep.

Jen takes the lead, more used to the girls having sleepover parties than Gibbs is. She takes several snacks up to Izzy's room to keep them quiet for a few hours and sets them up with a movie, stating that they can watch the movie, but not to stay up all night. The young girls nod in agreement, thanking the adults and Izzy hugging both Gibbs and her mom, before settling down into the sleeping bags that have been spread across the floor to watch the movie.

Jen and Gibbs spend an hour in the basement working on his boat before deciding to retire to bed themselves, knowing that next week at work will be a really tough one.


	14. The Truth

**Authors Note: **This was gonna be up days ago but I got distracted watching the news on this ongoing Japanese disaster, and my internet has been intermittant at best so sorry for the delay. A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed or favorited this story, I love you guys. Anyway, I am dedicating this chapter to all the people from Japan who are facing the horrors of not 1 but 3 disasters right now and to all the search and rescue workers, power plant staff etc. who are battling to save them.

**CHAPTER 13: THE TRUTH**

Lying in bed next to each just relaxing, Jenny remembers her promise to herself to tell Gibbs the truth before the end of the weekend. "Jethro," she says quietly, bringing his attention to her, "I just want to thank you for today and for everything you've done this past week for both me and Izzy. I know it can't have been easy for you having us invade your life like this, but I just want you to know I really am very grateful."

"You're welcome Jen, and you're not invading, I'm happy having you here. For so long this place has been so quiet, it was nice to have the sound of children's laughter echoing through the house. Since Shannon and Kelly died, I didn't even realize it until this week, but this house has felt so cold, empty and lonely, for a time I even considered selling up and moving into somewhere smaller. Having you and Izzy here this week has been wonderful, and this house actually felt like a home for once. Something I haven't felt since before I first met you as a probie."

Jen gives him a hug; Gibbs words making her emotional and making what she's got to tell him feel almost impossible. A tear slides down her cheek, reflecting on all the things he's missed out on, by her not telling him the truth, even if at the time, things were difficult.

She didn't even know she was pregnant that last night in Paris, when she left him with nothing but her coat and a letter in the pocket. She'd never been good with relationships and had gotten scared with how fast things had progressed between herself and Jethro. Scared that things would return to how they were before their undercover assignment in France and that working together would be awkward, she had made a decision, to bolt. She had phoned the agency director on the last day of their time in Paris and asked to be reassigned as soon as possible. There was a position just opened up in England, and she was given the option to start immediately. So the next day, instead of catching the flight back to Washington with Jethro and Ducky, she feigned a bathroom break, and instead got on a flight to London.

It was a good few months into her time in the UK that she realized she was pregnant with Izzy and by that point she was sure that Gibbs would hate her, so she kept putting off her decision to tell him. Several years passed by before a little more than three years ago she was reassigned as director of the Washington branch of NCIS, following the retirement of Tom Morrow. Having not heard from anyone since her departure she was sure that Gibbs would have either been reassigned or retired since she was last there and so was only slightly concerned about coming into contact with him again.

Knowing the added dangers of being the director of a federal agency she had decided against telling all but the SecNav about her daughter Izzy. Her shock at meeting Jethro on the first day of her job, made her question if moving back to the USA was a good decision, but she decided to stick it out and as the days passed it got easier and easier until now, sometimes, despite their differences it feels as if she never left.

She feels someone rubbing soothing circles on her back and opens her eyes to stare into Jethro's bright blue ones. She wipes at her tears unsure how long she's been crying for. Jethro continues his soothing hand movements on her back, not understanding what he could have said to make her cry like this but wishing more than anything that he could.

Eventually Jenny calms down enough to speak, "I'm sorry for soaking your shirt," she mumbles incoherently.

"Not a problem" Gibbs answers gruffly, more concerned with the reason why she just broke down, than the state of his shirt.

"I was just reflecting on everything that's happened these past 11 years or so," she explains still struggling against the stubborn tears.

"Talk to me," Gibbs says, knowing that whatever it is, is really bugging her and although neither of them are very good at talking and opening up, this is something that she needs to get off her chest.

"This past week and Izzy's birthday today made me realize how much we've all missed out on for all of these years. Family is important to a growing child and I've only come to realize that recently. I've always raised Izzy on my own, and I guess I've never let anyone get too close. I've been so afraid of losing her what with this job and all the risks it poses, that I've never let her get too close to anyone. The only constant figures throughout her life have been me, Ziva and her best friend Tammy. We travelled around Europe for a long time, only really settling anywhere for a few years at a time. I enrolled her in a school in England and left her behind with Tammy and her family sometimes so she didn't have to miss too much school. Moving back to Washington when I became the director is one of the biggest decisions I've ever had to make. It wasn't just me; I was dragging Izzy away from the only true friend she's ever known. That's part of the reason why I created the liaison post for Ziva. At least that way she'd have someone familiar around when I couldn't be there for her. Izzy settled in really well here, but I still felt bad about dragging her away from the life she had known for over 6 years. That's why eighteen months ago, when Tammy's mother got a job with the FBI and they all moved over here we were all very happy about it. But this last week has made me think about the lack of decent male role models in her life."

"Jen she's an amazing little girl and you've done an excellent job with her, I can't image how hard it must have been for you raising her on your own for all these years, especially with the job as well, but no matter how hard it was, you've made it work. From what I've seen these past few days, she's an intelligent, happy, loving little girl who's gonna grow up to be just like you I'm just glad to have been able to help these past few days and I just want you to know, me and the whole team is here to support you if you want us too. NCIS is like a big family, or at least that's what Abby keeps telling me, you're not on your own unless you want to be. I was wondering though, she said the other night when she woke up from her nightmare that you're the only mother figure she's ever known, and I guess because you've never said anything about a sister before, I was kind of wondering what happened there."

More tears flow down Jenny's face at realizing all the lies that have been told over the years. Eventually she regains the ability to talk and says, "I've never had a sister Jethro, I'm an only child. Izzy's mine. I just told people that to protect her. The daughter of a federal agent, or worse the director of a federal agency is a prime target for anyone trying to get to me or the agency."

Shock fills Jethro's eyes before he pulls her to him for a bone crushing hug. Both of them become lost in their thoughts of what all of this means. It's a good 15 minutes before either of them speaks and before Jethro fits the timeline together enough to realize that Izzy was born less than a year after Paris. It doesn't hit him straight away that either Jenny was seeing someone else shortly after their relationship in Paris or, the tiny possibility that Izzy could be his. Immediately dismissing the thought even though Isabel shares a strong resemblance to the old photographs of Kelly, Gibbs decides to bravely ask about the child's father and why he's not around.

The question alone sends Jenny into more fits of tears, but she eventually gets up the courage to tell him that Izzy's father doesn't even know and that she didn't find out she was even pregnant until he was out of the picture. Jethro is both angry and upset that the mystery father whoever he is walked out of Jenny and Izzy's life before he even knew about Jenny being pregnant and that he's not man enough to at least see his daughter and to be there for her. Gibbs is so lost in thought that he is sure he imagines Jenny saying that he is the father before she drifts off into an exhausted sleep after such an emotionally draining week.


	15. Kiddnapped

**Authors Notes: **I wrote this chapter about a week or so ago, but I wanted to make sure the rest of the story that I've got planned follows on from it ok before attempting to post it. I've half written the next chapter, and it's going to be a long one, but I can't seem to get it right so it may be another few weeks before you get it. I'm estimating there is only going to be another 3 or 4 chapters to finish this story off, but I intend to leave it open to a possible sequel or spin-off story sometime in the next 6 to 12 months. (I've got a few other stories I want to have a go at first and I'm no good at updating multiple stories at once, so it really will be months if at all.) Anyway I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who has read this story, and an even bigger thank you to those that have reviewed and/or added this story to their favorites. I love you guys. Right, I'll let you get to reading this chapter now.

**CHAPTER 14: KIDDNAPPED**

Gibbs and Jenny are woken sharply the next morning by the incessant ringing of a telephone somewhere in the house. Slowly rolling out of bed, Gibbs reaches across to the nightstand to silence it before it wakes up the kids sleeping in the other room. When it starts off ringing again the moment he switches it off he realizes it's actually someone calling and not just an annoyingly ill-timed alarm.

Grabbing it again, this time he presses the answer call button, rubbing an hand across his face in an effort to wake up enough to make sense of what whoever is on the other end of the line is trying to say.

"Gibbs, we've got a new case," Tony's annoyingly chirpy voice rings out from the device making Gibbs groan in annoyance. He loves his job but he despises early morning phone calls on what is meant to be his team's weekend off.

"Alright," Gibbs finally responds, "wake the rest of the team and get them all to meet in the bullpen in an hour."

"Boss," Tony acknowledges ending the call.

Gibbs forces himself awake and crawls from under the blankets to take a shower. Passing back through the bedroom on the way to the kitchen he informs Jenny about the new case before brewing a cup of coffee that they will both need in order to survive the day.

Less than an hour later, Gibbs meets his team in the bullpen and Jenny, Izzy and Tammy make their way upstairs to Jenny's office, one of the most secure offices in the entire building.

Gibbs barely has time to take his coat off and safely stow his gun before Tony starts explaining the details of their new case.

"An eight year old girl, kidnapped from her home early this morning. No apparent motive, but both her parents work for the Navy."

As Tony pauses for breath Ziva automatically takes over the explanations like a well-rehearsed scene. "The girls mom Sarah Delaney, is a translator and is currently working on a case involving children abducted from Saudi Arabia, her Dad, Michael Delaney is a civilian worker in one of the Navy communication centers, we don't think the kidnapping is connected to the parents work but we've not got much to go on so we can't rule it out completely."

McGee adds his explanation to the mix; "There is a connection to the school that Mr Thompson's son went to. The missing child also goes to school there but is in the year below, we haven't yet determined whether they knew each other or whether there is a connection there, but I've been checking the Delaney's computers and bank accounts and there is nothing conclusive so far."

"Any suspects?" Gibbs asks frustrated by how little they've got to go on so far. Cases involving children have always got to him.

"No, the only leads we've got so far is the possible connection to the school and this badge that belongs to the missing child," Tony explains, handing the badge to Gibbs to look at.

Ziva notices something familiar about the badge and asks Gibbs if she can take a closer look. The badge is passed along silently and Ziva stares at it in wonderment. Her fingers trace delicately along the inscribed lettering before she speaks. "This badge is from Israel, I had one similar when I was little but it got lost when I was almost blown up when I was in the vicinity of a car bombing. This lettering when translated to English, means 'Forever Protected'. Similar items were given to a lot of Israeli children when they reached their 5th birthdays, apparently it's meant to protect them from harm."

The others all look at her before Gibbs speaks up, "has the child or her parents ever been to Israel does anyone know?"

"Not that we can find. Her father is from Turkey and mother is an Arabic and Hebrew translator, but there is no record of any of them ever having set foot in Israel."

Before anymore can be said, a red blur runs down the stairs and jumps into Gibbs arms, a blonde blur following close behind and standing nervously by his legs, tears in her eyes.

Tony, Ziva and McGee watch curiously as Gibbs pulls the young girl tighter into his arms and reaches down a soothing hand to place on the shoulders of the other little girl who is stood by his legs. "What's going on girls," Gibbs asked concern and something else that can't be identified clear in his tone.

"Sam's missing, was kidnapped" the two girls get out between there tears, "we just saw it on the news."

Still confused Gibbs waits for them to explain. They are prevented from having to say anything though when Jenny steps into the bullpen and explains for them. "Is this the case you got this morning," she asks first of Ziva, motioning towards the screen where a picture of the missing girl and her parents work files are displayed on the screen.

Ziva nods her response, yes, before Jenny turns back to face Gibbs and the girls. "That's Samantha Delaney and her parents. Samantha is one of the girl's best friends."

"Aww hell," Gibbs lets out in frustration, there case having taken another turn.

"That confirms the link with the school and the Thompsons," McGee points out trying to be helpful.

The phone on Gibbs desk then chooses to interrupt the discussion and he carefully manoeuvres the girls grip on him so he can answer the phone.

"A ransom note has been sent to the Delaney's," the voice on the other end says; one of the officers in charge of protecting the missing girl's parents and keeping them informed with any developments in the case. "The kidnappers want Mr and Mrs Delaney to take five million dollars to the airport terminal at 3pm this afternoon or they'll kill the girl. It also states that the Delaney's are to come alone, any sniff of cops and they'll shoot the kid and her parents."

"Get the note to forensics and don't let the Delaney's leave or do anything, me and my team will be there in 15 minutes," Gibbs demands slamming the phone down.

Gibbs turns his attention to the team briefly before looking between Jen and the girls and back again. "Izzy," Gibbs says in a soothing tone to the red-headed girl in his arms, "I'm going to find your friend ok, but you and Tammy need to stay with Jenny for a little while so I can find her, is that ok?"

Both girls nod their heads in understanding. "Promise," Izzy makes him promise her.

"I won't stop looking until I find her," Gibbs promises the young girl untangling her arms from around his neck and passing her across to Jenny.

It's on doing this that he notices how young she looks and something inside him snaps. He knows he'll do anything he can to make this small girl happy again. No child should have to face what she has in the past few days.

Once Izzy is safely in her mom's arms, Tammy holding on to Jen's left hand, they share one last look before Jenny returns to her office the girls in tow.

Gibbs immediately gets his gruff work expression back, slightly embarrassed to have been caught with his guard down by his team.

"Right, DiNozzo, David, with me. McGee, help Abby process the ransom note."

"Boss," they all say before getting to work.

Gibbs, Tony and Ziva make their way to the Delaney's house. When they get there they find the liaison officer struggling to keep the distraught parents calm and stop Mr Delaney going out searching for his missing daughter.

"Mr Delaney, you need to calm down and let these officers do their job. They will find your daughter," the officer tries to reassure the parents but his words fall on deaf ears.

Mrs Delaney is sitting on the armchair in the corner, crying and mumbling in Arabic. Ziva being the only one of the three Agents, who can speak Arabic, goes over to talk to the woman and get as much information from her about the girl as she can. Gibbs handles Mr Delaney, knowing how it feels to lose a child, leaving Tony to talk to the officer.

"We adopted Samantha as a baby," Mrs Delaney explains to Ziva, "I can't have children and Samantha's biological mother was killed in a car bomb in Israel. I have a lot of contacts over there from my work so as soon as I heard about what Samantha and her family had gone through; I just had to give her a home. I've never been to Israel myself. Some people who worked with her Grandfather bought her over here. The only thing she's got left from her biological family is a protection badge given to all the children of Israel whose parents are connected to Mossard. I really don't know anything else about them at all."

Ziva lets the woman's words sink in feeling sorry for the child's biological family. Life as a child in Israel is not easy, particularly for the children of Mossard, one of the reasons she's never had children herself. Almost all of her friends and family have been killed by unexploded bombs, fighting and shootings. Life in Israel is a battle to survive.

Gibbs approaches them after his discussion with the father and places a hand on Ziva's back to get her attention without startling either of the women. Ziva turns to face him at the unexpected contact and informs him of her new findings. Tony approaches his teammates a few minutes later and the three head back to the Navy Yard to collaborate on their findings.

Back at NCIS headquarters Gibbs and the team meet up with McGee and Abby in Abby's lab to see if they've got any forensics of the ransom note.

"There's not much Gibbs," Abby informs them all glumly, "but I did manage to find some grey fibres and the glue used to stick the letters to the paper can only be bought here in DC, more precisely, only 3 places sell this brand." she states pulling up the details on the computer screen in front of her. Continuing on she tells them about the grey fibres. "The fibres are some type of carpet fibre, its composition is similar to car boot fibres, but this particular type is only made by one manufacturer; Al El Fabrics over on the East Side." Abby brings up the address of the warehouse and Gibbs kisses her on the cheek before grabbing the address print out and leaving the lab.

Back upstairs in the bullpen, Gibbs sends his team out to check on the addresses of the places that sell the glue, while he goes to check on how Jenny and the girls are holding up and grab a coffee. When they get back he plans for them all to go investigate the warehouse.

It's a couple of hours before the team gets back to the office and time is running out for the ransom. Unwilling to put the Delaney's at risk, he is determined to do everything in his power to find these crooks before the time runs out or they have to run with plan B, sending the Delaney's in with the ransom money as a sting operation.

When they reach the warehouse, they canvas the outside of the building, scoping out all possible escape routes, then they split up, Tony with Ziva and McGee with himself, so they can cover more ground quickly.

The situation goes from bad to worse though when gunshots are heard from within. Gibbs and his team hurry into the warehouse in the direction the gunshots came from, alert for more possible shots. The sight that awaits them when they reach the main part of the building makes all of their blood run cold.

**End Note:** Sorry for the cliffhanger on this chapter, but it had to be done. I'll try not to make you wait too long for the next chapter.


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